Naruto: Rise of Uzushiogakure: Fire in the Mist
by Black' Victor Cachat
Summary: Jonin Captain Roy Mustang of Kirigakure and his team make a horrifying discovery about the truth of their nation. Is it truly treason when your Kage is under the control of a monster? Deleted chapter from Naruto: Rise of Uzushiogakure as part of my re-write.


**As part of my (agonizingly slow) rewrite of Naruto: Rise of Uzushiogakure, I have decided to remove my part with importing characters from Fullmetal Alchemist. As much as I enjoyed writing it in, I need to cut down just how much of a story I am going to end up writing.**

**While I am sorry to do this, I do not want to delete it outright, hence why I am posting it here.**

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For better or worse, I do not own Naruto or Fullmetal Alchemist

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Beta read by the wonderful Karukyuu and rose7anne101, who have both written some pretty amazing stuff!

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Chapter 24: Fire in the Mist

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_Previously: Having successfully defected from Konohagakure to save his life, Naruto has been recovering and preparing within Arendelle, planning to go join the rebels in the Mist Civil War. To aid him in this, he and Haku reveal the existence of Zabuza's small personal army which they are planning to meet up with. _

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Land of Water

Kirigakure

Empty Street

Chunin Captain Maes Hughes of the Investigations Office of Kirigakure hurried down the perpetually foggy road, clutching his bleeding arm, senses alert for any sign of ambush. Despite leaving a trail of blood and knew he was being pursued, he forced himself to keep from running. Blind haste in these mists would be the death of him…and the knowledge he carried within his head.

Endlessly it circled through his mind: the pieces of the puzzle that he had finally put together. _That anyone could be so sick to do this!? The massacres, the graduation exam, everything! I've got to get a message to Roy!_

Somehow or other, ANBU Hunters loyal to the government had stumbled upon what he was doing, and had attacked him. Fortunately there had only been two, and they had misjudged Hughes for just a desk jockey, not a veteran and survivor of carrying out the Bloodline Purges, and he had killed them both.

Then he heard the faintest noise behind him, and Hughes thought of his wife Gracia and his daughter Elicia.

**XXX**

Land of Water

Kirigakure

Abandoned warehouse

Two Weeks Later

Jonin Captain Roy Mustang, the Flame Ninja, and master of the Art of the Fire Salamander, fought to keep his subordinates from realizing how shaken he was.

A leader must remain calm and collected at all times, even when stress and frustration might appear perfectly understandable, but Mustang knew they were all depending upon him to find a way through this nightmare.

Tonight they had put together the final piece of a puzzle that had started with investigating some strange events, and had ended with uncovering the darkest secret in Kirigakure's history: that the Fourth Mizukage, their supposed leader, was the mere puppet of some foreign player, who was using their homeland as some sort of sick chess piece for his or her own scheme. One that had already killed far more people than Mustang was willing to tolerate.

"Yeah, that's how I felt," Chunin Captain Maes Hughes agreed as he took in their expressions, before stiffening at a twinge from his injuries. Automatically Mustang took off his coat to lay it across the shoulders of his wounded best friend _who was not dead_.

These last two weeks had been one of the worst periods in Mustang's life, as he had quietly yet ruthlessly dug to uncover who was responsible for that crime. Despite what he had claimed in public, he had been confident that there had been more to the case than just rebels or defectors bearing sole responsibility.

After all, such suspects had no motivation to go after Maes. Yes, he was part of the Mist's Intelligence Division, but only as part of the Investigations Office for probing into the actions by their own ninja that were too unimportant for the Hunter Ops to deal with. Viewed by his colleagues as a respectable soldier turned paper pusher. During the occasional rebel attack, he would be among the first to fall back to a supporting role, or running for reinforcements; not that anyone would seriously complain because each time they _did _need that help.

In fact, the only real criticism people might level against him was that he was such a loving father and husband that it drove everyone around him up the walls as he ceaselessly bragged about his family, and/or would show his hapless victims an endless procession of pictures of his _adorable _baby girl.

Hardly someone worth the risk of assassinating in the middle of the Hidden Village itself. No, it had to be something he had uncovered while working with the Investigations Office.

Only Mustang, and the Flame Ninja's direct subordinates, realized how easily people dismissed Hughes as a harmless if irritating eccentric, leading even usually cautious shinobi into letting their guards down around him, and let slip some useful pieces of information. Those who did figure it out, and reacted violently, quickly discovered that they were fighting a still sharp veteran of the Bloodline Purges.

The proof of this lay in both crime scenes where Maes had been attacked, with the man's personal knives scattered about, most touched with blood. The naked violence where he had supposedly died had been so destructive that it had been impossible to confirm identity of the corpses, except for the one with Maes' wallet in its pants and his glasses nearby. Even Mustang had bought the deception.

Unfortunately for those who were trying to cover up what Maes had discovered, the fact that they had needed a second more desperate attempt to kill him meant that in the interval between events, the bleeding man had been spotted by others, letting Mustang know that it had been in a military records office, where the rebels were unlikely to infiltrate. Moreover, Maes had already been quietly investigating ranking members of high command given details the Elric Brothers had informed him about.

Following the 'death' of Hughes, Mustang had relentlessly sought out what had gotten his best friend killed. This voyage of discovery had led to many misadventures as he and his followers and allies worked to dig up the dirty truth, all without being caught by their own government and branded traitors. Some events would definitely not be going into Mustang`s memoirs though, like the time Falman had to play host for a civilian serial killer named Barry the Chopper, who had also been unwillingly involved in the conspiracy.

"But were does Ishval and the rest of the Bloodline Purges fit into this?" wondered aloud Chunin Heymans Breda.

"To help maintain their control," Mustang tightly answered.

Breda, who Mustang regarded as his 'Rook' chess-piece was a man who exemplified the ninja credo of "looking underneath the underneath." Bulky, burly, and lazy, with little interest in getting his hands dirty, he concealed a brilliant mind that was used to stay in control of whatever situation. Moreover, when he knew it was necessary, he was fully ready to wade into combat and carry out some of the dirtier jobs that Mustang had to distance himself from to maintain his cover and image. It only took the shrewd man a second to figure it out. "That new Kekkei Genkai that was supposed to break through genjutsu and work against other dojutsu! There were new Bloodlines starting to emerge, ones that could have exposed him!"

"And as Mei Temuri has shown, when the Bloodlines are mixed right, we can get even stronger ninja with both of them," Genin Vato Falman agreed. "Whoever this is can't risk too many powerful ninja rising to a position where they might expose him, and Bloodline abilities are a lot harder to restrain."

"Close, but not quite," Hughes growled. "You're absolutely right that those played a difference, but it was also a way to weed out discontent." He flinched in pain, giving the others a moment to process his words.

Genin Vato Falman was sweating a little as he worked to process everything, contrasting with the 'Bishop's' usually stoic appearance. Using his eidetic memory, he served as Mustang's intelligence officer and records keeper, retrieving crucial data with ease when he was not reading every scrap of knowledge he could get his hands on.

Neither Mustang nor the woman at his back could bring themselves to speak, so it fell to Hughes to bite out the rest. "By the time it was over, the only ninja Kirigakure had left were the lunatics who liked killing, or those who were willing to obey orders. Any order. The rest, the ones who would have opposed the mastermind, were all killed off as traitors."

None of the younger ninja, the ones who had not been a part of the Purges like Mustang, Hughes, and Riza Hawkeye, dared say anything.

"Who knows how strong Kirigakure might be now, if we had retained all of the clans who possessed such powerful abilities," Hawkeye quietly added. "The Purges drained us of a significant portion of our military potential."

"…I admit," Mustang finally managed, "there's a part of me that actually admires the brilliance of whoever's behind this." Everyone looked at him in surprise and concern, but he kept going. "He sabotages our country by killing off the Bloodlines, weakens our cohesions by using the former Academy graduation ceremony to kill our soldiers' abilities to trust each other. And that test killed off even more of our potential strongest than the higher ups want to admit," and he threw Hughes and Hawkeye a hard look. "We all knew promising young academy students who had just not had the chance to truly flourish as they would have with jonin teacher and real missions. Instead they were killed and discarded beforehand.

"Yet we still remain strong enough that we are counted as one of the Five Great Villages, and a strong intelligence network that the mastermind ultimately controls. And if need be, the real Mizukage can use us as a sacrificial army to advance his own ends!"

Hughes and Hawkeye were just staring at the ground at his words, while Breda and Falman were trying to think of something to add. As for the remaining two present, they were choosing to stay quiet.

Jean Havoc lit his cigarette with feigned nonchalance, waiting for someone to tell him what he was supposed to do. While he would probably never get promoted beyond chunin rank, Mustang's 'Knight' was a still a shrewd man and a veteran ninja, well suited for open combat or dark deeds in the night. However he had no trouble admitting to himself that something as twisted and vile as this was beyond his paygrade.

Genin Kain Fuery, the 'Pawn,' felt the same. Overlooked in the ninja world for his undistinguished combat skills, Mustang had instantly seen the value of someone who was an expert cryptographer, code breaker, and expert in all forms of communication, including the newer chakra based machines coming out.

"_But!_" Mustang coldly smiled. "The fact that I'm overwhelmingly disgusted with this whole mess, lets me know that I'm still human! That they haven't managed to turn me into an emotionless weapon!"

Everyone stared in wonder at him, while the dread they felt began to melt away. "So we'll fight them," he continued, "and prove to them all that they can't take that humanity away from us!

"Plus," he flashed a grin, "if we can expose this, it'll just make it easier for me to become Mizukage!"

"Or you can use that new hero status to finally get a wife!" Hughes smirked. "Maybe Mei Terumi even!"

"Yeesss, Mei Terumi is indeed a fine looking woman," Mustang mused as he rubbed his chin with a sparkle in his eye. His male chess-pieces sighed in exasperation while Hawkeye, the 'Queen,' never blinked. "That aside however," and now his calculating look was back, "I wonder how much about this Miss Rebel Leader already knows?"

"Given how they're the ones who saved me, possibly a lot," Hughes offered.

Mustang stopped to think about that, running a hand through his artfully messy hair as he thought it over. His best friend had told them that he had survived the hit squad that had come after him because of rebels who had ambushed the ambushers, and then helped fake Maes death, but that detail had been pushed aside in face of the greater revelations. "I wonder how many 'traitors' we've dealt with who were actually too close to the truth?"

"Not too many," Hughes spoke with professional authority as a member of the division of the Intelligence office devoted to domestic affairs. "But you can bet a fair percentage of those of higher rank who found out and were opposed to this scheme were either killed off, or forced to defect, usually to the rebels. It's not like they could've done much else if they'd been discovered. Even we don't have the kind of proof that we can show to the rest of the military or civilians."

Many, many shinobi had fled the village over the years, rather than face the pressure of the bloody crimes they were ordered to commit, often against each other, or endure the expectations of living up to Kirigakure's reputation of finishing the mission even at the cost of the lives of its soldiers. It had reached the point that most other Villages thought the fact the Hunter Ops carried out the same duties as the ANBU in other nations had been a necessary decision since dealing with Missing-Nins took up so much of their efforts, as opposed to a long standing piece of culture from the clan of the First Mizukage.

Given the nightmares he faced every night, Mustang could understand these actions, but he would never condone them. _We all signed up to be shinobi, we were told from the beginning what it meant. By running away, you are abandoning your comrades, leaving them all the more vulnerable. If you cannot stand the system, then change it! So that future generations don't have to go through that sort of hell!_

Indeed, the Jonin Captain's ambition and code of conduct had even led him to situations where he had fought and killed rebels in the past, which along with his rank and reputation might make it difficult to make safe contact with them.

_Unless_… Mustang forced himself to stop. His was tired and disorientated. "Everyone get home and get some rest," he ordered, fighting off his own urge to yawn. Throwing Maes a look, "We'll be back within a week. You've got enough supplies or should I send someone over?"

His best friend waved his hand reassuringly. "The rebels gave me some rations once I'd told them that I was fine and let me go. They only really saved me on the belief that if the ANBU Hunters wanted me dead, keeping me alive was worthwhile. Took me most of the time you thought me dead to shake their tail without acting ungrateful, but I stocked up on some more food since."

"Alright then," and Mustang got up and walked out first, his faithful bodyguard with him in case of an ambush. He might be a stubborn idiot, the man who would lead his troops from the frontlines to keep them safe, but Hawkeye would not let him face it alone.

"And don't forget to check in on Gracia and Elicia!" yelled Maes, concerned about his wife and daughter.

"I promise you," Mustang said with a ready smile, "I'll check in on them to make sure they're doing alright. Although," and now he sport an insufferable smirk, "you should be more worried about what Gracia will do to you when she finds out you faked your death without telling her."

Yet Maes just waved his hand dismissively. "Whatever fate she chooses for me I'll accept, but that doesn't matter! Who knows what kind of boys are trying to corrupt my sweet, innocent daughter when Gracia can't be around all the time!? She needs protection! Like at her birthday party!"

"…Hughes, _Maes_," Mustang stressed with strained patience, "those were three three-year old _kids_ you were threatening just wanted to _play_ with her, not corrupt her."

"That's just what they want you to think!" screeched the poster child for overprotective dads.

**XXX**

Land of Water

Western Region

Secret Rebel Base

Mei Terumi was wide awake and ready for action this mist shrouded night, her ever-present smile sadly absent.

The supreme commander of the rebel cells within the Land of Water could feel the same echoing pulse of urgency in her bones that everyone around her had. The need to strike against their foes. Unfortunately, that was easier said than done.

While smaller in number, her forces were better motivated, well trained, had powerful surviving Kekkei Genkai users, noteworthy defectors who joined them, and the ability to divide their enemy's forces. Double agents within the Fourth Mizukage's ranks were positioned to give false orders to sow confusion when needed. The puppet's most loyal adherents were too rigid minded –or too afraid of the consequences of disloyalty— to dare disobey an order, even if it seemed unwise. The mistrust sown by that nightmarish graduation exam and related policies, robbed the government forces of trust and cooperation amongst units and even individuals, making it relatively easy to take advantage this failing. Whatever sense of an 'esprit de corps' remained within Kirigakure was slowly wilting.

Yet victory itself might destroy the Land of Water.

Whichever side survived would have to be strong enough to deter other nations from invading during this time of weakness. Alternatively, the 'winner' had to be skillful enough to project the necessary image of strength to prevent that.

_No, we aren't ready yet_, Mei knew, forcing her mask and smile back on before her troops noticed and worried. _Better to live under Yagura's shadow a little longer than risk our home being conquered. The mastermind behind him might event try to incite that._

"We're ready for the raid," a measured voice behind her said, and Mei gave a firm nod of acknowledgement, one more allowing herself the pleasure to reflect upon how life had changed. How she now trusted that man with her back.

Five times Ao had tried to assassinate her on Yagura's order, meeting her overwhelming power with guile and ambush, with her escaping death by the skin of her teeth multiple times upon each attempt.

Then one day he showed up, kneeling before her along with a number of ninja, many who were considered die hard loyalist, or others who were respected and renowned like young Chojuro.

He told his tale of his growing suspicions, and of an encounter with a Konoha shinobi which had enabled him to acquire a Byakugan, carefully doctoring the Hyuga's corpse to hide this. Despite the risks of damaging the sole intact eye, Ao had ordered his squad's medic to remove his right eye that had been ruined years ago, and implant the new one. If Ao's suspicions about Yagura had been false, he likely would have been executed for such criminal initiative. Instead, the man's worst fears had been confirmed upon actually seeing the genjutsu controlling the Mizukage. Ao had grabbed as many of the Hunters who had trusted him, along with and as many others he could reach before risking exposure, and had fled to Mei's growing army.

His story, and the look in each of their eyes had been what had convinced Mei to trust them, and let the traitors join their ranks and become true patriots. Now both she and Ao had saved each other's lives numerous times. Even if he was infuriating in his relentless reminders of her unmarried status!

"Alright then," she cheerfully. "And remember, priority to getting the civilians out of the crossfire."

"They know," Ao assured her. "They'd do it even if you ordered them not to, which," and his smile was self-mocking, "shows how much better we are than the Bloody Mist."

Mei's smile now was both vicious and beautiful. Lovely for her thoughts of how they were building a ninja system that was worthwhile, and dark in thoughts of the cold-blooded monsters who did not care how many innocents died. It destroyed their souls, and the trust and support of the general public, which Mei in turn was steadily earning despite the lingering anathema directed towards those with Kekkei Genkai.

It was increasingly clear to all, that Yagura and his minions were far worse.

**XXX**

Arendelle

Royal Castle

Naruto and Haku were going over the maps that Elsa had provided, being more up to date than the ones kept in Naruto's parents' Scroll. Haku's own sharp memory of Kirigakure's military deployments providing the details necessary for them to begin planning.

"We'll have to check with Ganryu, the man left in charge of Zabuza-sama's former army, but I think our best bet is first attacking the fort here," suggested Haku, pointing to a spot on the map. "With our numbers and your abilities, we can demolish the fort without having to actually kill many people, taking the rest prisoners. Without the fort and the supplies it stores, Kirigakure will be forced to divert more men and resources to the region, or leave it vulnerable."

"My dad's war strategy notes emphasize hitting the supply routes," Naruto murmured in agreement. "But, not that I'm complaining, but why the emphasis on killing as few as possible?"  
Haku's expression turned grim at this as he explained. "Because there are enough merciless killers in Kirigakure right now as it is. Mei Temuri, the leader of the main rebel force doesn't need to deal with more in her home. Someone who is willing to entertain possibilities besides killing, will make her interested, and she will definitely appreciate us taking out that fort."

Naruto was gritting his teeth now, though not in anxiety, but at the thought of what kind of people Haku had been forced to grow up with. "Alright, I like her more and more already."

**XXX**

Land of Water

Kirigakure

Poorer part of the Civilian District

Silently, the last member of Mustang's entourage, and his most precious, his 'Queen,' went to meet some young friends.

Despite the gloomy, shadowy residential area they had taken up in, she knew they would be fine. The boys were tougher than they looked, and had endured far worse. Still, she hoped that one day they would not have to live like this.

Not that she was in danger either, for all that she was an attractive young woman walking alone through dark and misty streets. She was Riza Hawkeye, and while technically only a mere chunin and aid to a jonin captain, she commanded the respect and approval of her superiors. Years of sweat perfecting her _aim_, and wading through a river of blood made by her own hands, she had earned for herself an epithet found in every nation's Bingo Book: the dreaded "Eye of the Hawk." One of the few true snipers in ninja history, she was absolutely lethal with any throwing weapon, but especially with the Lightning Release: Precision Bolt which she used to kill at ranges most deemed impossible.

And like Roy Mustang, her nights were haunted by the ghosts of those she had killed.

Finally, she reached the dingy hotel room door they were staying at, and after a few knocks Ed opened it, relaxing his fighter's stance once he recognized her. "Queen to B6," she intoned.

With the code phrase the wariness in the fifteen year-old's golden eyes finally receded. He had learnt to be cautious the hard way over the last few months. Without being asked from where he was sitting on a rickety chair, his younger brother Al placed down one armoured hand to activate a Privacy Seal.

Despite being 'mere' civilians, the boys were self-taught themselves in the sealing arts to the point they had been confident they could revive their departed mother with the forbidden Summoning: Edo Tensei: Impure World Reincarnation. Having read about how the Second Hokage had managed it, they had turned their prodigious minds towards the tasks, seeking a way to do it without having to pay the toll of a human life. They payment for their hubris was evident for anyone to see. Edward "Ed" Elric's arm was always wrapped in bandages to hide the scars, while Alphonse "Al" Elric clung to life in a suit of bulky armour that concealed special seals of Ed's own design and various medical instruments. While this allowed Al to function within society, both boys desperately hungered for a way to regain their old bodies…so long as they did not have violate their own morals in the process.

Roy Mustang had been the one to discover them, hunting down rumours of their sealing talent and stories of how they had been taught taijutsu to the point they could fight on par with even academy trained ninja. While enraged at their recklessness when he discovered them shortly after their failed experiment, the fact that both of them had survived was a testament to their phenomenal skills, genius, unflinching will to live. He had traded keeping them a secret from the rest of the military, in a world where civilians had few to no rights in the Bloody Mist, in return for them lending their talents. _And by this point not even Ed thinks the Jonin Captain's doing it for malicious reasons, _she knew._However the two of them might argue and insult each other, Mustang does genuinely care about them. Moreover, he knew that supervision would provide them with some much needed adult guidance. After their mother died, the only ones they had left in their lives was that childhood friend of theirs, Winry I believe, and her grandmother. Neither of whom were aware they were planning dabble into Life and Death itself._

"You okay, Chunin?" Ed asked. "Want some coffee?"

Despite what all of them had been through together, Kirigakure remained a highly militarized nation, showing respect for a ninja's rank remained a large part of the local culture and etiquette.

"Yes please," she answered wholeheartedly. "This is going to take a while, and you aren't going to like the news." Both of them shared concerned glances at that. For years they had actively thrived overcoming and mocking every threat they had faced, but in the last few months their independent research was what had first pointed Mustang in the proper direction.

"Let me guess, the Jonin Captain," somehow saying the rank like it was an insult, "got himself hurt again?" Ed groused as he unsealed a utilitarian coffee pot and a thermos of water, along with some ground coffee that Al had picked out. For all that Ed and Mustang trusted and respected each other, whenever they met it was always a clash of egos and personalities. Everyone else just found it entertaining. Al on the other hand, got along with just about everyone. It even worried Ed sometimes, the sort of people his younger brother knew. Personally, Riza knew that for all Ed's brilliance, the ability to make rapid leaps in logic to come to radical yet insightful conclusions with but the smallest scraps of information, his hotheaded rebellious streak would have gotten him killed long ago without Al's wisdom and maturity.

"Chunin Captain Hughes is alive," she began once they were settled, ignoring the shocked exclamations from them all. The man's death, especially when he had apparently been digging into a question their own investigations had unraveled had hit the two very hard. "But his story," she continued, bulling through what they were trying to say, "is why I'm here. And it's not good."

"Does Jonin Captain Mustang know you're here?" Al insightfully asked. While ninja became adults at a young age, the two of them were legally still minors. The errors they had made in their lives had given the Flame Ninja no reason to treat them differently from other children, even fresh graduates from the ninja academy.

They had intelligence and moral courage far beyond their years, and bursts of maturity that were humbling, but Mustang still believed they were still not quite ready to be out from his distant yet watchful eye. Not in this blood soaked world of ninja and assassinations.

In that though Riza disagreed with her boss, and it was one of the reasons they respected her in turn so much. Moreover, even without this newest secret, if the enemy traced their connection to the Elric brothers, then the Fourth Mizukage would not hesitate to round up anyone even remotely linked to Mustang's conspiracy and execute them. The puppet master could not afford anything less. "I didn't ask, but you deserve to hear this."

They sat in silence throughout the rest of it, drinking it in, but despite the horrors they had just learnt, she could see that their genius minds were still fully functional.

She gave them a few more moments while she finally drank her now cooled coffee.

"But, but that means," Ed finally managed, "what you were telling me before about the Bloodline Purges, when you were in the Ishval region, that means you weren't at fault for what happened there! It was all the guy manipulating the country!"

"No," she said simply yet with finality.

Behind her eyes images of those terrible days flashed before her, when she had made her reputation as a legendary sniper as she exterminated entire clans, fellow citizens that she had originally enlisted to protect. Yet she did not try to suppress those visions.

She did not deserve to.

**XXX**

[Flashback]

_"'Why?' Because that's the duty of a shinobi. Why are soldiers –who should be _protecting _the populace—_ killing _them instead? Because those are the_ orders _we were given. Isn't that right?"_

_The expression on Solf Kimblee's face, feared as the Crimson Lotus, never shifted as he calmly informed them of this._

_"__Are you telling me to _rationalize_ this away…?" A younger, agitated, Roy Mustang asked, sitting beside Hughes. "…This _tragedy_?"_

_Taking in the incredulous stares of his fellow ninja as they were resting, Kimblee curiously asked, "Can't you look at this as a _job_? What about all of you?"_

_"__If we could," nervously offered the genin Kimblee was currently looking at, "we wouldn't be discussing this, sir."_

_"__Well then…" the man mused. "How about…_you_ there, little lady," pointing at Hawkeye, rushed out of the academy to join the frontlines. "You don't like your work, do you? It's written all over your face."_

_"__That's true," she admitted as she looked down, knowing that it was pointless to try to hide it. "I don't enjoy killing."_

_"__Really?"_

_Her head was pulled up at that, meeting the __now cold-eyed gaze of the Crimson Lotus as he stared back._

_"__When you drop an enemy…" he relentlessly pressed, "…can you tell me in all honesty that you don't for a moment, indulge in the _satisfaction _and _pride_ of a job well done…Miss Sharpshooter?"_

_Pale faced, eyes swelling in horror as her body sickeningly tightened, Riza nearly missed an enraged Mustang grabbing Kimblee's collar while snarling, "_That's enough!_"_

_Not bothering to resist, Kimblee continued._

_"__From my perspective, you lot are much harder to understand. Always looking for some way to rationalize your role on the battlefield. Did you come here prepared to kill _one or two people_ but not _thousands_?_

_"__The moment __you chose to wear your hitai-ate headband of your own _free will_, you knew something like this could be expected of you. If you don't like it, you shouldn't have put it on _in the first place_. Why do you act as though _you're_ the victims when this was the path you chose, free of coercion? If you're going to pity yourselves, then don't kill _anyone_ in _the first place_."_

_Kimblee leaned closer to Mustang now to deliver his final shot, but his words were kunai that burrowed deep into the flesh of everyone else._

_"__Don't avert your eyes from death. Look straight ahead. Look squarely at the people you're killing. And don't forget them. _Never_…forget them. Because _they_ won't forget _you_."_

_Then that callous, empty-hearted man heard the bell calling him and the rest back to duty, and he went to do that. No one could raise any words against what he had just lectured to them._

**XXX**

Present

_Yes, that was what was always so unsettling about Kimblee_, Riza reflected as she poured herself a new cup of coffee. _Not his power, not just his twisted personality, but how _right_ he could sound!_

_For all that he glorified in destruction and madness, he always carried an utter conviction about him that made him so compelling._

Kimblee the Crimson Lotus had thankfully been dead for several years now. Unfortunately, his killer had been Mei Temuri, an act which had proven her right to lead the rebellion, and had opened up the eyes the Bloody Mist to the threat those terrorists truly posed if they could defeat such a formidable warrior.

Not that Riza or Mustang had ever considered joining the traitors before tonight.

They had known the truth of what they had done, and had committed themselves to reforming their homeland the proper way.

Mustang was the one with the skills, intelligence, and charisma to see it through, and she was to be the one to watch his back the entire way. And kill him if he had ever strayed from the path. _Because I still don't think it's wrong to believe in a future that everyone can live in happiness_

And that was why she found the full scope of this mysterious puppet master's scheme so horrifying.

If they had never learnt this. If they had succeeded and Mustang had risen to become the next Mizukage, he would have also fallen under this sinister figure who was the true ruler of their homeland, and nothing would have changed. At that point, either Riza would have been under similar domination, perhaps forced to watch from within her own mind as her hands carried out further atrocities, or she would have killed the one man who meant the most to her, when he was actually innocent.

"No," Riza said as she realized she had been quiet too long. "This changes nothing."

"But it does!" Ed exclaimed. "You said you and the Jonin Captain want to change the ninja world so that such massacres never happen again! That people would be held accountable for such crimes! But now we know that someone else caused all that! That whoever it was started it!"

In that moment the Elric brothers were met with steely gaze of the Eye of the Hawk. "This mastermind may have _started_ the purges, but _we _were the ones who _carried it out_."

The look of innocence in their eyes was why Riza kept fighting; to create a world where everyone could live in happiness and discussions such as this never happened. _And no matter what, I'll never stop believing that such a future is possible. For the __sake of that dream, I'll do whatever it takes, even carry corpses upon our backs across a river of blood. I'll bear all of that for the sake of the next generation, theirs, and those whose who come after them._

Quietly, she elaborated for them. "We cannot pass off the responsibility. We made our own choices then and there, and now we have to live with them, and the price. The first step to do so of course will be to remove Yagura from power."

_The casual way she says that_, Ed wondered, but then his own eyes flashed. "We'll be there to help you!" he promised, raising a hand to forestall her. "I know you guys don't like kids getting involved, but this is our country too, Al and I are strong and you know it, and at the very least we can help keep the civilians out of it."

Hawkeye was about to say something when Al interrupted, from within the suit of armour that kept him alive. "It's late and we've got a lot on our minds, and when was the last time you had any sleep, Chunin?" he asked, cocking his helmet to somehow give her a knowing look, despite how the visor covered his face.

Ruefully she smiled in acknowledgment, and stood up from her seat. "Yes, I should get going. Black Hayate," her small pet dog, "needs to be seen to too."

"Goodnight, Chunin," Ed said. "And thanks. Thanks for trusting us with this."

"Yeah, thanks!" Al echoed.

She gave them a sad smile. "You've earned that trust, and you're going to be in the thick of this no matter what any of us wish, so it's best you be prepared."

**XXX**

Land of Water

Kirigakure

Madame Christmas' Hostess Bar

Jonin Captain Roy Mustang moved his tired body to his favourite club, knowing he would find what he needed there. He was not so worn out though as to fail to return the flirtations and hugs from the lovely ladies who worked there as they greeted him, and send small smirks towards the other men present. Truly this was one of the best places in the village, with fantastic company.

He went straight to the proprietor of the establishment, Madame Christmas herself. The middle aged woman gruffly greeted him, and asked what was wrong as he laid his exhausted head against the bar counter. "Oh, just a long day, with things not going my way. Hawkeye has so many expectations of me, and just as I was thinking I was in the clear, I found out just how large the workload really was." This of course set off another chorus of giggles from the women who worked there, and they began throwing out solutions to his problems, most of which involved going out on a date with one of them.

Ignoring the chatter, Madame Christmas just asked what Mustang wanted to drink, but when she handed him his request, he discreetly slipped her a small piece of paper.

Madame Christmas, a.k.a. Chris Mustang, little Roy's paternal aunt and adoptive mother, showed no hint of what happened. She did note with approval that none of her girls reacted either, covering up the action with more mock flittering with their surrogate brother, perfectly happy to help enforce his reputation of womanizing and debauchery. In actual fact, Madame Christmas knows that the only woman that matters to Roy would be Riza Hawkeye. But not only did Bloody Mist military laws forbid fraternization with fellow shinobi in active service, but they were both too committed to their cause. They would only look for happiness in each other when their mutual sense of duty let them, no matter how long it took.

Unlike the rebels, those two had remained loyal to their village, working to reform it from within. To reshape it into something that would not kill its own citizens, and that those who carried out such acts would be punished.

Truthfully, Madame Christmas was proud of what gains her nephew had accomplished, and was happy to lend the aid of her secret intelligence network to help him become the Fifth Mizukage, and reform the Bloody Mist into something the country could take pride in. Succeeding in keeping their true relationship a secret was no small source of pride for the older woman. The only question was what was written on that scrap of paper she was now hiding up her sleeve, and what new "workload" had so rattled the most determined man she had ever known.

**XXX**

Ninjutsu:

Wind Release: Art of the Fire Salamander:

As a quirk of the migrations and conflicts during the Warring States Period, the Land of Water came to possess what is touted as the most powerful fire jutsu outside of the Uchiha's Amataseru. The original users of this ninjutsu were also paranoiacs who set strict guidelines on who could learn it that reflected this mindset. Unlike most A-ranked Hidden jutsu, it is not passed down family lines. Instead, the current wielder seeks out a successor to become the most powerful and skilled fire user of the next generation. Whoever wields this technique is labeled the Flame Ninja or Flame Shinobi, and can be counted upon to cover a battlefield with either precise attacks or massive explosions and bursts of fire. In reality, this is just a ruse to throw people off perpetuated by the paranoid original creator, the first Flame Ninja, as in reality this is a cunning use of wind jutsu.

With incredible care and precision, the user uses this jutsu to manipulate the concentration of oxygen in the air, raising the density surrounding the target to a level in which it becomes volatile, and then creates narrow pathways of oxygen between himself and his target. Finally, the user cancels their wind chakra and then ignites the combustibles by channeling fire chakra into their hands. If the transition is not done with precise timing, nothing will happen.

This can be used to consume an entire designated area in fire or explosions, or create a small, precise stream that merely burns the limbs of multiple foes while leaving allies unharmed.

While immensely powerful, disruptions to the air flow or an increase in moisture will make it useless, which is why the present Flame Ninja only teaches his art to someone who is already strong enough with fire jutsu to protect themselves and maintain the illusion. Successful candidates must then show the potential to learn wind jutsu to a master level in order to control the air currents properly.

The vulnerability of this technique to the moist mists that surround Kirigakure is the reason why previous users of this technique have never been Mizukage candidates before, meaning that the users usually attain glory with it while fighting conflicts in other nations.

Lightning Release: Precision Bolt

A long-range, C-rank ninjutsu that fires a small, penetrating bolt of electricity from their index and middle finger when pressed together. While useful for those with a keen eye and good reflexes, it is not overly popular because while instantly lethal if it precisely hits a crucial vital point, the damage is so small and confined compared to other potential techniques that a miss will only give a light wound, similar to a senbon needle. This is especially true when targeting opponents who are farther away and can dodge far more readily.

Chunin Riza Hawkeye gained fame from her mastery of this technique, and ability to develop it into one of the most formidable sniping jutsu known, gaining a reputation of being able to kill someone at ranges that the vast majority of ninja are able to attack at, nor anticipate their own imminent death.

**XXX**

**Author Notes:**

**Yes, I have now introduced characters from my second favourite manga, Fullmetal Alchemist (the Brotherhood version). **

**What really helped convince me to do this though, was that in every other fic I've read, characters from Kirigakure tend to solely be the rebels, or people sympathetic to the rebels, never anyone from the losing side of the civil war. And what I had always found fascinating about Roy Mustang was how he was a man who had been knee deep in genocide, and afterwards worked to reform his nation so it never happened again, knowing that if he succeeded in the creation of a democracy, then that would see him tried by his own government for war crimes. All of these issues of course can easily be connected to the Bloody Mist. So here we see the Flame Shinobi, a "Hero" of the Bloodline Purges and a man who had to take that infamous academy test, trying to make things better. If he does not appear to be awesome, it is because I failed to convey him properly. **

**Not so sure how many other characters I will be introducing, due to concerns about reworking some bits of alchemy into ninjutsu, and my ability to replicate some characters. I owe a lot to Lady Norbert, from looking at how she described these characters. If you have appreciate Fullmetal Alchemist, I heartily recommend you look at her continuation series. **

**-0-**

**Please Review, and I will get back to you!**


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